Dallas, Texas – The Texas Department of State Health Services stated Wednesday that a second urgent care health worker confined in a hospital in Dallas who actually took care of the first ever Ebola patient that was diagnosed within the U.S. tested also positive for the said disease.
The said department said early Wednesday in a post on its official website that the said health worker reported having a fever last Tuesday and immediately seek an urgent care near me and was isolated in Dallas’ Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.
Officials stated that the second reported Ebola patient was also a health worker among those who was able to take care of the first patient who tested Ebola positive, Thomas Eric Duncan after coming home from an African trip. Unfortunately Duncan passed away last October 8.
The health department stated that preliminary Ebola tests were conducted in their urgent care clinic late Tuesday specifically in Austin, Texas in a public state health laboratory, and the results came back positive later that night. The department stated that more confirmatory testing will be conducted in Atlanta by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The recent statement indicated that the second Ebola patient, who was not identified, was interviewed in order to identify quickly if any contacts or any potential exposures were needed to be identified if in case others should also be monitored. It also stated that the monitoring type will highly depend on the amount of interactions and exposure said individuals had with the said health care worker. Individuals were advised to seek immediate care in urgent care clinics even if they just interacted with the said health care worker in a short amount of time just to be sure.
Officials also have stated that they still don’t know exactly how the very first health worker who is also a nurse got infected. But in this second case, officials pointed out probable lapses concerning improper procedures regarding wearing and removing of personal protective equipment.
In Atlanta last Wednesday, a statement was released by the CDC saying that the second health worker being tested positive is a very major concern, which led the CDC to take more active steps in minimizing the risks being faced by health workers and patients. The agency also stated that they were conducting follow-up testing to further confirm preliminary Texas lab’s result. The agency added that they took part also in interviewing the said second Ebola patient to help identify if any contacts that can be potential exposures were made within the community.
